Coiled wire unit for seat ventilating pads



g 1967 s. P. CRANE ETAL COILED WIRE UNIT FOR SEAT VENTILATING PADS Filed June 9, 1965 wwe Staph euD. Rent A TORNE Y United States Patent 3,337,885 COILED WIRE UNIT FOR SEAT VENTILATING PADS Samuel P. Crane, 23 Pine Drive, Great Neck, N.Y. 11021, and Stephen D. Kent, 567 Liberty St., Newburgh, NY. 12550 Filed June 9, 1965, Ser. No. 462,523 7 Claims. (Cl. 347) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to the inner units for ventilating pads and especially to that type wherein lengths of wire, cou'led into spring-like generally rectangular coils, are arranged in rows.

Owing to the necessity 'of meeting the primary comunercial requirement of low price, previous units of the type here involved and the pads of which they form the primary part, have been restricted largely to generally rectangular outlines. In such rectangular unit or pad, the length of all the coil springs reaching across the border frame, to which the springs are attached could, for economy of manufacture, all be made the same length, namely, the distance between the parallel opposite sides of the frame. The rows of springs have been arranged closely together and interlaced and the coils made of substantially quadrilateral shape with relatively long tops and bottoms to attain a large supporting or hearing area when the finished ventilating pad is sat upon or leaned against.

However, units of the quadrilateral coil type or with straight tops on the coils as heretofore made require expensive means for insuring that the ends of the spring rows are not only adequately attached to the border frame against working loose under the stresses put on the unit, but are also processed in some manner to prevent the sharp wire ends from W01 g through or cutting the covers of the unit of open mesh fabric and thereby injuring the user or damaging the clothing. The wire spring ends on the pairs of adjacent interlaced rows of the Wire fabric of the unit have therefore been twisted together, or

which require-relatively and for most purposes prohibitively expensive operations. The relatively sharp square corners on the rectangular units 'are also more difficult to enclose in binding tape and to finish by stitching than rounded corners as in pads of other shapes in outline.

It is an object of the present invention to avoid the dis advantage inherent in the previous types of spring units having quadrilateral coils, as above explained, by prornost any desired shape in outline by means of coiled rows of different lengths; in which unit the ends of the rows are integrally and securely joined in pairs and in which the joined rows may be spaced as closely together or as far apart as is desired and arranged in such staggered, aligned, overlapping or other relation as is convenient to provide an eflicient supporting or bearing area;

3,337,885 Patented Aug. 29, 1967 and which unit accomplishes all of the foregoing while meeting commercial requirements of economy and efliciency.

Another object of the invention is the provision of non-parallel or relatively tapering tops and bottoms on the individual coils of the rows, whereby an intersecting row of similar coils or other holding means is readily wedge into the rows which it intersects to maintain said rows against undesirable displacement.

The various other objects of the invention will appear as the description progresses and from the drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a ventilating pad showing the usual mesh covers partly broken away to expose the major part of the inner unit.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of part of a typical length of the coiled wire of the unit, hereinafter termed a spring, showing the outwardly convex form of the tops and bottoms of the quadrilateral coils and the uniform winding of the coils.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of part of a rowforrning coil spring, showing the initial position of the end part of one row of the spring in dash-dot lines and an intermediate position of said end part during the movement thereof into its final position to form a second adjacent row.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the coil joining the ends of both rows in its final position wherein the rows are in c osely adjacent relation and the slightly curved tops of the coils as well as the bottoms of the coils of the various rows are substantially in alignment Ialong parallel inclined lines cross the border frame.

FIG. 5 is a similar view showing a different arrangement of the end coil joining the rows to attain an overlapping relation of adjacent rows, and showing in dashdot lines how the spacing of the rows may be varied by varying the angle which the top and bottom of the end coil make with each other.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the overlapped and staggered relation of the rows attained by varying the angle in the end coil; and showing in dash-dot lines how the rows may be substantially spaced apart by changing the angle.

It has been found that wrapping a long spring around a border frame by rotating the frame about a central axis, may be commercially and practically feasible as shown by the patent to Crane No. 2,801,681, provided that the spring has circular coils, and is later flattened after being so wrapped, in spite of the bulging or bowing out of the rows from the final required plane of the unit before flattening, as shown in FIG. 16 of our prior Patent No. 3,022,063. In attempting to wind a long spring with quadrilateral instead of circular coils in this manner around a frame, not only is the bulging of the rows out of the plane of the frame greatly accentuated, but uncontrollable twisting of the coils occurs so that the tops and bottoms of the coils move out of and tend to stay out of the planes and the coplanar positions in which they normally lie and make the final disposition of the rows unmanageable and unpredictable. We have found that by deliberately imparting the proper predetermined angular twist to the end coil joining adjacent rows of coils, while maintaining the tops and bottoms of the coils in adjacent rows substantially in the respective initial planes thereof, the otherwise uncontrolled bulging and twisting displacement of the coils of the rows is prevented and adjacent rows of coils remain coplanar and can be made substantially parallel and spaced apart or overlapped as much Or as little as desired.

A practical embodiment of the unit is shown in FIG. 1, in which the spring 10 is formed of a length of wire into rows of quadrilateral coils or convolutions 11 (FIG. 2) with substantially square corners, each coil having a relatively long and slightly outwardly convex top 12, a similar bottom 13, a substantially upright straight preferably, but not necessarily shorter side 14, connecting the top and bottom and a similar, preferably shorter substantially straight side 15 connecting the top 12 of one coil to the bottom 13 of the succeeding coil, there being relatively sharp right angle bends as 16 connecting the various sides. The pitch or rate of advance in a longitudinal direction of all the sides is preferably uniform for efficiency and economy in winding the coils automatically. The top and bottom of each coil may deviate from a straight line or taper from the middle point toward the sides 14, 15. To form the finished pad, the inner Wire unit 17 comprising the border wire frame 18 and the coiled and suitably bent spring 10, is covered on one or both faces with the open mesh fabric covers 20, the edge portions of which are finished with binding tape 21 and stitching 22 in the usual manner. The present invention is directed primarily to the formation of the various rows of coils from the length of coiled wire so as to fill the space inside of the border frame 18 to the required density in an economical and efiicient manner.

One end portion as 23 of the wire spring length is mounted on the border wire 18 at any convenient point, before the ends of the border wire are brought together and the border frame closed. The end of the border wire is inserted into the spring and the spring pulled along the border wire preferably to encircle and cover the entire length of the border Wire before the spring leaves the other end of the border wire. The extreme end of the spring is then secured in place in any suitable manner. The spring is then shaped to form the various coplanar rows. The formation of coplanar rows effectively is a problem which has long plagued the industry and has resulted in the almost universal acceptance 'of circularly coiled wire later flattened. The points of beginning and ending of the border coils and of the coiled rows with relation to the border wire may be changed considerably as may be found convenient or desirable.

As shown, the spring is arranged inside of the border wire from a point adjacent the end 23 of the frame to form the first row of coils 24 along and inside one side 2.5 of the border wire which is illustrated as convexly curved. The succeeding rows of coils formed by the spring are integrally joined in pairs alternately at opposite ends of the rows in such a manner as to accomplish the diflicult retention of the tops or horizontal sides 12 of all of the coils throughout the unit in a substantially coplanar position. The rows are also set in substantially parallel relation and are spaced as closely together or as far apart as desired to control the density of the coiled unit as well as the number and disposition of the coil tops in the supportmg area of the unit. Preferably, though not necessarlly a single long spring is used not only to form the border spring coils but also to form all of the coiled rows. The wire of the spring is preferably of relatively low resillence so that it may readily be bent beyond its elastic limit, to retain the shape imparted to it.

The arrangement and control of the disposition of the rows becomes possible by reason of the simple expedient of permanently twisting one or more of the relatively short substantially upright sides 14 or of adjacent coils about their own axes preferably beyond the elastic limit of the wire to arrange the adjacent top and bottom of one coil or of adjacent coils at the proper selected angle to each other, such angle being other than the normal angle resulting from the uniform winding of the spring. The

twisting of the selected short sides 14 or 15 or both, is

shown for example in FIG. 3 at 14a. There, the dash-dot lines represent the initial position of that coaxial part of the spring 10 adjacent the row 24. The bottom 13a of the selected coil 11a which is to be the end coil of the adjacent row 26 is shown in dash-dot lines as being intially outside of the unit in relation to the border wire 18. The short substantially upright side 15a at the junction of the rows 24 and 26 retains its position during the rotation in the direction of the arrow, of the bottom 13a in the plane of the axis of the spring, about the axis of the side 15a as a pivot to form a fold at the corresponding ends of the pair of adjacent rows 24 and 26. Such rotation manually or mechanically is continued until the final interior angle made by the top 12a at the end of the row 24 with the bottom 13a at the end of the row 26, is less than 180 and such as to arrange the rows at the proper spacing between them and in the proper staggered or aligned relation. The angle may be predetermined for that purpose. In FIG. 3 the axis of the rows 26 is not shown parallel to that of the adjacent row 24 because the angle mentioned is 180 prior to the completion of the operation, and the short or substantially upright sides next to and on either side of the side 15a have not bee'n twisted to any material extent. When the side 15a is twisted further as show nin FIG. 4, to increase the exterior angle between the sides 12a and 13a, still without twisting the sides 15b and 15c, the rows become parallel and close together without overlapping. The lesser exterior but greater interior angle between the sides 12a and 13a shown by the dash-dot lines of FIG. 6 permits the separation of the rows 24 and 26 as shown by said dash-dot lines. When said exterior angle is increased as shown by the full lines of the rows 26, then the adjacent rows become overlapped. By also changing the angle betwee'n the top 12b of the end coil of the row 26 to the bottom coil 13a of the preceding coil, as by twisting the short side 14a of the end coil, the tops 12b and of the respective rows become staggered or disposed out of alignment with each other along a line inclined to the border wire, such alignment being actually shown in FIG. 4. The staggered alrrangernent of the rows breaks up the empty extended troughs or tunnels present in the aligned rows of FIG. 4 and in the known intertwined rows of separate row le'ngth spring sections.

When the three short sides 14a, 15a and 15b of the end coils of adjacent rows are all twisted to a greater or lesser extent as shown for example by the full lines of FIG. 5, considerable overlapping of the pair of adjacent rows can be attained and the tops of the coils may also be substantially aligned if such alignment is required. When the adjacent rows are to be spaced apart considerably for economy or where a filler unit of little density is satisfactory as shown by the dash-dot line position of the row 26 of FIG. 5, then the amount of the twist in the coil side 14a common to both rows 24 and 26 is decreased and the twisting of the other sides 15a and 15b accordingly altered as will now be understood.

Any part of the long spring 10 may be used to form one or more rows as 31, 32 intersecting and tying together the main rows 24, 26 and the like and coplanar therewith, by bending or folding the spring at the proper points in any suitable manner. In the form shown in FIG. 1, the last main row 33 is continued and folded back on itself as at 35 and then turned at right angles to the intersecting row 31. The spring 10 is then again bent or some of the coils thereof straightened as at 36 for the required distance and again bent to arrange the intersecting row 32 at the desired location. The coils of the intersecting rows, while substantially coplanar with the other rows, are readily forced into the coils of the main rows owing to the curvature of the tops and bottoms and the fact that the inside dimension of the coil at its middle is slighly more than the outside size of the coil measured near the sides 14 or 15. The smaller end of the coil therefore readily enters the middle part of the coil to be held and may readily be wedged therein by sliding the coils in the proper direction relatively to each other. Such wedging not only resists transverse displacement of the main rows to constitute row tying elements, but also serve as space fillers. As many or as few intersecting rows are bent from the main spring as are desired, said intersecting rows being preferably spaced closer together near the middle of the unit where the stress of use is greatest, than elsewhere in the unit.

The intersecting rows need not necessarily be made as a continuation of the long spring but may be of other coiled or shaped material capable of preventing significant separation of the filler rows.

The border wire encircling coils may be dispensed with and the border wire left bare except at those points where the end coils of the rows cross said wire. Where boiler coils are employed, with or without a border wire, the end coils of the main rows are so entagled as at 37 and elsewhere within the border coils as to aid in resisting shifting of the main rows out of place along the border wire or border coils when the pad is in use.

'It should be understood that the invention has been 7 shown and described herein with reference to certain specific forms thereof for purposes of illustration and that the invention is not limited to such forms only, since various changes may be made therein and are contemplated, without departing from the spirit of the invention defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A coiled wire unit for seat ventilating pads comprising a border frame and a coiled wire spring of greater length than the combined lengths of a multiplicity of the rows hereinafter mentioned, said spring having substantially quadrilateral coils, said coils having substantially quadrilateral coils, said coils having substantially square corners, elongated tops and bottoms and substantially upright and straight sides, the tops and hottoms of the respective coils converging from the middle portions thereof toward the upright sides thereof, the coils being arranged in a plurality of substantially parallel pairs of adjacent rows extending transversely across the frame, the end coils of adjacent substantally parallel rows having a substantially upright coil side of substantial length arranged outside of the border frame and common to the end coils of both rows, said common coil side having a twist therein abut the axis of said side and beyond the elastic limit of the Wire of said common side, the angular twist being suflicient to arrange said rows in a selected spaced relation and thereby to provide a predetermined density of coils in the unit.

2. The unit of claim 1, the common coil side being twisted sufficiently to arrange said adjacent rows in overlapping relation.

3. The unit of claim 1, the common coil side being twisted insufficiently to cause the adjacent rows to overlap.

4. The unit of claim 1, a succeeding side of the end coil of at least one of the rows also being twisted to a predetermined extent.

5. The unit of claim 1, and an additional row of coils similar to the aforesaid coils intersecting the pairs of adjacent rows and having the tapered side portions thereof wedged into the coils of said adjacent rows and thereby resisting relative displacement of the adjacent rows at the intersections.

6. The unit of claim 1, part of the length of coiled wire encompassing the border frame and constituting a border spring, the substantially horizontal sides of the coils adjacent the twisted side being iuterengaged with the coils of the border spring.

7. A seat ventilating pad unit comprising a border frame having at least two opposed curved sides, and a folded length of coiled Wire wrapped around said frame and folded back and forth into a plurality of approximately parallel rows, some of the rows being shorter than others, each of the coils of said coiled wire having a pair of opposed and substantially upright straight sides joined at the upper and lower ends thereof to a top and a bottom respectively, said top and bottom being shaped to converge toward each other in the directions extending from substantially the mid-points thereof toward the respective sides of the coil, thereby to reduce the heights of said sides to an amount less than the height of the coil at the mid-point of the coil and to permit the side portions of the coil to enter a similar coil of an intersecting row of such coils to a sutficient extent to engage said similar coil forcibly, an intersecting row of coils bent from said length of coiled wire and crossing the plurality of parallel rows and engaged therewith to maintain the transverse spacing between said parallel rows, each of said parallel rows being in predetermined transverse spaced relation to the adjacent rows along the entire length thereof except at the fold at the end of a pair of adjacent rows, said fold being arranged outwardly of the border frame and comprising the upright side of the coil common to the corresponding end coils of said pair of adjacent rows, said upright side having a permanent twist therein thereby to arrange the top of the end coil of one of said pair of rows at a selected interior angle greater than and less than to the bot tom of the end coil of the adjacent row and being such as to arrange the tops of the coils of the rows out of alignment with each other, there being a substantially square corner at the upper and lower end portions of each side of the coils.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner. A. M. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner. 

7. A SEAT VENTILATING PAD UNIT COMPRISING A BORDER FRAME HAVING AT LEAST TWO OPPOSED CURVED SIDES, AND A FOLDED LENGTH OF COILED WIRE WRAPPED AROUND SAID FRAME AND FOLDED BACK AND FORTH INTO A PLURALITY OF APPROXIMATELY PARALLEL ROWS, SOME OF THE ROWS BEING SHORTER THAN OTHERS, EACH OF THE COILS OF SAID COILED WIRE HAVING A PAIR OF OPPOSED AND SUBSTANTIALLY UPRIGHT STRAIGHT SIDES JOINED AT THE UPPER AND LOWER ENDS THEREOF TO A TOP AND A BOTTOM RESPECTIVELY, SAID TOP AND BOTTOM BEING SHAPED TO CONVERGE TOWARD EACH OTHER IN THE DIRECTIONS EXTENDING FROM SUBSTANTIALLY THE MID-POINTS THEREOF TOWARD THE RESPECTIVE SIDES OF THE COIL, THEREBY TO REDUCE THE HEIGHTS OF SAID SIDES TO AN AMOUNT LESS THAN THE HEIGHT OF THE COIL AT THE MID-POINT OF THE COIL AND TO PERMIT THE SIDE PORTIONS OF THE COIL TO A SUFFICIENT EXTENT TO ENGAGE SECTING ROW OF SUCH COILS TO A SUFFICIENT EXTENT TO ENGAGE SAID SIMILAR COIL FORCIBLY, AN INTERSECTING ROW OF COILS BENT FROM SAID LENGTH OF COILED WIRE AND CORSSING THE PLURALITY OF PARALLEL ROWS AND ENGAGED THEREWITH TO MAINTAIN THE TRANSVERSE SPACING BETWEEN SAID PARALLEL ROWS, EACH OF SAID PARALLEL ROWS BEING IN PREDETERMINED TRANSVERSE SPACED RELATION TO THE ADJACENT ROWS ALONG THE EN- 